


I Prefer Sugar

by HollynRed



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Levi Has Feelings (Shingeki no Kyojin), Levi Has Trust Issues (Shingeki no Kyojin), Levi Has a Sweet Tooth (Shingeki no Kyojin), No really Levi's a sucker for you, Pining Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Protective Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Recipes at the end of every chapter, Romance, Slow Burn, You make Levi come out of his shell, but not that slow, nowhere in the timeline in particular
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-11
Updated: 2020-08-22
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:54:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25832371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HollynRed/pseuds/HollynRed
Summary: Captain Levi has a sweet tooth (for you).
Relationships: Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin)/Reader
Comments: 29
Kudos: 203





	1. Blackberry Thumbprints

**Author's Note:**

> This is a story about how you and Levi fell in love and had great sex all the time 
> 
> OR 
> 
> Our fantasy lives in Wall Rose

I Prefer Sugar 

Chapter 1-Blackberry Thumbprints 

The first time you’d ever seen Captain Levi in person, he’d rode through town on horseback with dirt in his black hair, tears in his uniform, and a hollowness in his silver eyes as mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, sisters, and brothers asked after their loved ones. They had hope and then so often anger that joining the Scout Regiment had meant the demise of someone most important to them-and they had no one left to share this emotion with than the ones who survived, but sometimes wished they hadn’t. 

Exhaustion seemed to weigh the Captain down until he could do nothing but stare blankly ahead while those in Wall Rose hurled insults and even some rotten food at the man they blamed for the holes in their chests where their loved ones used to be and their own lives lived in fear. 

What made you gasp aloud with a hand up to your mouth was the shamed bend to the Captain’s head as he rode past, like he didn’t want them to stop. Like he thought he deserved it. 

It left a bad taste in your mouth. You watched the man who sported Wings of Freedom trod further ahead until he disappeared behind a street bend where angry onlookers followed after him and the rest of the Scouts. 

‘It isn’t right,’ you thought with your lips pursed. 

You were resolved to make it at least a little more right. 

This was how you had found yourself in the Scout Regiment military barracks with a woven basket full of blackberry thumbprint cookies. Your bakery was one of few open within Wall Rose that regularly sold sweets, and your shortbread recipe was one everyone talked about around town. 

The cookies were still warm from the oven, and you had been careful to make the little circles of blackberry jam in the center perfect as these were for a very special cause. 

“Captain, I’m so sorry, I tried to stop-” a young man with shoulder-length blonde hair said as you reached past him to knock on a door that read ‘Captain Ackerman’, feeling fidgety all of a sudden. The boy who had tried (unsuccessfully) to stop you from coming down the hall had said his name was Armin, and he looked to be at a complete loss as to how to stop you without physically manhandling you. 

Following after you with logic and regulations had not worked. 

“How did you get through the front doors at all?” Armin asked, blue eyes widened as he looked to consider bolting down the hallway. You could hear a heavy sigh and the sound of a chair scraping the floor from inside the office. 

You really hoped he liked blackberry. 

“I just told the Scouts guarding the entrance Commander Pixis was going to visit and he wanted another lemon poppyseed bread to bring to the King. It’s a good thing nobody checked my basket, otherwise I would have been caught,” you told the cadet. 

“Please leave before he gets here,” Armin begged, eyes shifting continuously to the door as the echoing footsteps got closer, “You seem like a very nice woman, and I will be in so much trouble if-”

The door swung open, and then you and Armin were face to face with a bored looking man whose steely eyes scrutinized you in an instant. At least they didn’t look so hollow. 

“You couldn’t stop a baker from infiltrating?” Levi scoffed, “No wonder we’re dropping like flies. Go sweep the dining hall-I’ll check when you’re done.” 

You watched with a mild stab of guilt when the blond cadet hung his head and turned with a solemn, “Yes, Captain.” 

You hadn’t thought of what to say when the revered and infamous man turned his attention to you. 

“You,” he said with a questioning glint to his calculated gaze, “what are you doing at my office? Am I responsible for a relative or a boyfriend who died outside the walls?” 

There was little emotion in Levi’s tone as he asked, and perhaps that broke your heart more. How often did people approach him for that? 

“No, I um…” your word faltered under his intensity. He exuded the casual confidence of authority with his arms crossed over a very strong chest, and it became very hard to focus on words. 

“I made these. For you,” you got out, lifting the white lace off the top of the basket to reveal the cookies you hoped would convey what you wanted to say better than you could. 

The Captain’s gaze flitted between the basket and you, but he didn’t move a muscle. 

“Why?” 

‘Why? Oh, right.’ 

“To be honest, I watched how everyone treated you when you rode through town the other day. I really can’t imagine what it’s like to be part of the Scouts, let alone in charge of them, but I know it can’t be easy and it doesn’t help when the people you’re trying to protect are turning on you. I didn’t know anyone who didn’t make it on the last expedition, but I wanted to give you something to say thank you, for everything, from all of us who appreciate what you’re doing,” you finished, feeling satisfied that regardless of his reaction, you had done the best you could to convey how you felt. 

The Captain’s eyebrows had raised, and a flash of shock came over his features before he could neutralize them again. 

“You have guts coming in here, I’ll give you that,” he mused, uncrossing his arms, and you blushed at the kind-of compliment. You weren’t in a profession where people normally remarked on your bravery unless you were pulling hot trays out of the oven without gloves on. 

You held out the basket for Levi to take, happy he didn’t seem all that put-off that you were here without a uniform. 

He did reach his hand out for it, carefully, as if he didn’t fully believe the cookies weren’t secretly detonators. Bewildered was the only way to describe him, which you suspected was not a word often associated with Captain Ackerman. 

“You can’t walk into a military base unauthorized again,” he said, but with none of the bite in the way he’d spoken to Armin. 

You giggled, despite yourself, at the confused and highly capable soldier-in-command holding a basket of blackberry cookies. 

“Then you’d better eat them quickly, before the Captain finds out,” you teased, and were amazed when the corner of Levi’s thin lips quirked up. 

“Thanks,” he said, scratching the back of his neck, “I have paperwork to get back to, but Jean will escort you out… what’s your name?” 

You told him, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear, and watched as gray eyes tracked the movement. 

“Jean! Escort Y/N back to the main roads,” Levi ordered at another passing cadet, expression blank once again. 

“Yes Captain!” A tall man with gray hair turned around to say, saluting with his fist over his heart. 

“Bye Captain, I hope you like blackberry,” you said with a smile just as you were about to turn to leave. The smell of warm cookies had filled the entryway of Levi’s office, which you hoped he found as enticing as all of your customers did. 

Levi waved at you in return, reaching his other hand into the basket to take one just as he was about to shut the door. 

“Hey, you’re pretty cute,” the young soldier beside you said as you were walking away, “Where’s this bakery that you…” 

You weren’t listening. You turned your head to look back at the Captain’s office just as the door was halfway open and closing fast. What you saw in that glimpse made you blush again. 

Levi had bitten into one of the thumbprint cookies with an embarrassed but genuine smile when he thought no one could see. It was only for a split second you saw a flash of unadulterated emotion on the Captain’s seemingly impassive face, but it made your heart skip a beat. 

‘Oh, no,’ you thought with heated cheeks, ‘he’s really hot.’ 

Your Wall Rose Recipe Book   
Levi’s Favorite Desserts 1-Blackberry Thumbprint Cookies   
Yields 40 cookies

Ingredients:   
1 cup softened, unsalted butter   
2/3 cup granulated sugar   
Extra granulated sugar set aside for rolling   
2 large eggs yolks at room temperature   
1 teaspoon vanilla extract   
1/4 teaspoon salt   
2 1/3 cups all purpose flour (spooned and leveled)   
1/2 cup blackberry jam 

Instructions:   
Step 1- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. 

Step 2- Either in a stand mixer or a mixing bowl with a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until well combined, or about 1-2 minutes. Add in egg yolks, vanilla, and salt until completely combined, and then add in flour. The mixture will look like it is falling apart and a tad crumbly, but as you continue to mix it will form correctly. 

Step 3- Use a measuring tablespoon to measure out the dough, roll dough into balls, and then roll dough in the extra granulated sugar. Place the sugared dough on the baking sheets. 

Step 4- Use your thumb to press down in the center of the dough to make an indentation. Spoon blackberry jam into each indentation (about 1/2 teaspoon of jam per cookie). 

Step 5- Bake for 12-14 minutes or until the bottoms are lightly browned. Let cool before eating.


	2. Lemon Poppyseed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It seems Levi just can't get enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I started watching this show when I was a freshman in high school, and now that I've graduated college I can't believe we're going to bring this story to a close soon. Here's to season 4.

I Prefer Sugar 

Chapter 2- Lemon Poppyseed 

Levi felt like he was losing his mind. 

He was sitting at his desk, hand cramping, eyes scanning a stack of documents Erwin sent over (that he suspected the other man simply didn’t want to look at), but every few paragraphs the words would lose meaning and… 

She was smiling at him, handing him a woven basket with exactly 24 cookies in it. She was wearing a white dress with little blue flowers embroidered all over it and flair at the waist. She wasn’t… she wasn’t afraid of him, barging into a place she didn’t belong to tell him ‘thank you’ of all things. 

It had been a nice change of pace from the steady stream of ‘fuck you’s he usually got instead. 

With a groan, Levi closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. This was pointless. He just needed to stretch his legs, and then he’d be fine. 

Getting up from his desk felt good, and on his way out he pointedly didn’t look at the empty basket he hadn’t moved from the edge. He’d eaten 8 cookies the first day and almost made himself sick, but that was his business. 

“Armin,” he called, spying the scrawny, blonde cadet scurrying off to… somewhere. He couldn’t remember what he’d told him to do this morning. 

It took effort within himself not to get attached to Armin. The young cadet reminded him strongly of a younger version of his best friend. He was a risk taker balanced with a sharp intellect, good at motivating the other cadets into action. He bet the pesky brat would make it far, but he’d never test fate by saying it out loud. 

“Yes, Captain?” Armin asked, posture apprehensive. 

“That baker girl who was in here the other day-” 

Armin rushed to respond, head bowed as he apologized, “I’m so sorry, Captain, next time I won’t-” 

“Shut up. How did she say she got past the front guards?” Levi inquired, deciding it was an innocent enough question. Not that he had to worry about asking innocent questions. 

“Oh! Uh…” Armin looked to the left side, squinting, “she said Commander Pixis sometimes buys lemon poppyseed bread from her bakery to deliver to the King. She told the guards the Commander was coming that day and she was here to drop off the bread for him.” 

Levi fell silent for a moment, mulling over this information while Armin fidgeted in place. Levi remembered she’d said she’d seen him after their last expedition, when he’d come through town with wagons of dead Scouts. 

There were some days he was better off not thinking on for too long. 

“She could have been a criminal or a terrorist and no one even checked her when she came in,” Levi scorned, “what did she say the name of her bakery was?” 

Whoa, what the hell was he doing? That was irrelevant information, but the question had slipped out so casually it startled him. 

Armin’s already owlish eyes widened further, incredulous, as he said, “She never said. You don’t really think she was doing something sinister, do you? That she was lying about owning a bakery?” 

Levi gave him a look and flatly responded, “No. You can get back to your duties, Armin.” 

“Y-yes Captain!” Armin nodded, placing his fist over his heart before retreating. 

Levi moved back into his office and shut the door calmly while his mind raged with the question, ‘what the fuck is wrong with me right now?’ 

You were about to close your shop and felt thoroughly exhausted after a long day. Confectioner sugar from a batch of cream puffs you’d made earlier in the day clung to everything like wet snow, including your dress (the apron you’d dawned couldn’t spare the pink rose petal design from receiving a frosted look). 

There was a whirring noise outside your shop window as you bent down to get a soapy rag and rinse some of the sugar from your hands. You assumed it was the sound of mobility gear from either the Garrison or the Scouts on a nightly patrol; you could sometimes hear them pass by when all was silent after dark. 

You’d ducked under the front counter right as the sound stopped, rinsing the sticky substance from between your fingers when you heard the bell on the front door ring. 

‘Really? As I’m about to close?’ you thought with an inward eyeroll knowing you had to be friendly. 

“Sorry, I’m about to be done for the day,” you explained sympathetically, raising your head above the counter, “if you come back tomo-oh! Captain Levi, hello. I didn’t expect you to see you.” 

The universe had aligned in your favor and you’d almost blown it. 

Ever since you’d seen Levi a few days ago in his office and experienced one of his most endearing smiles, you had to admit to yourself that you’d felt something. You just hadn’t expected to see him again for it to amount to anything. 

But here he was, standing in your bakery in full uniform, though now he had one hand on the door handle while schooling his face from frozen to one of neutrality. He seemed to do that a lot. 

“Sorry, I’ll send someone to come in tomorrow. Commander Pixis came in today and asked for more, uh, lemon poppyseed bread,” Levi explained, one hand twisting the knob while turning to leave. 

No, no, no! You couldn’t explain to yourself why, but you didn’t want Levi to leave yet when he had just gotten here, after you thought you’d never speak to him again. And you certainly didn’t want him to think he was unwelcome. 

“No, wait, Captain Levi,” you blurted out, drawing his attention back to you, “I, um, actually have some lemon poppyseed on hand, if Commander Pixis… if Commander Pixis needs it tonight.” 

You realized halfway through your explanation something was off, something you hadn’t caught when originally all you wanted was to prevent the Captain from stepping outside. 

What you’d told the guards, about bringing the bread to Commander Pixis… 

You didn’t bake for the King. 

That was just a lie you told to get inside the barracks, which you assumed others would know by now as you had lied about what was in the basket in the first place. You didn’t lie based on a half-truth, all of it was entirely made up. 

So why was the Captain acting on your lie? 

“He does,” Levi said quickly, then looked off to the right, “if you have some already, I’ll take it.” 

“Sure,” you said brightly, happy to play along regardless and pointed to a wooden table surrounded by chairs, “wait right there, and I’ll be back.” 

Levi looked mildly taken aback again as he walked to the table you’d indicated and while you turned to go back to where you kept the day’s baked breads, realization struck you and made you smile. 

‘I just gave him a direct order,’ you thought, ‘I wonder the last time that’s happened? But he didn’t really seem to mind…’ 

Your mind ran wild to seek out the true intent of the Captain’s visit as a lemony scent filled the air while you wrapped the bread in royal purple paper. Maybe the Captain had simply liked the cookies and wanted some more desserts, but then why go to trouble of using the lie you made up? 

‘Unless he didn’t know it was a lie,’ you contemplated while finishing off the wrapped lemon poppyseed bread with a gold ribbon, ‘It’s strange. I feel as bewildered as Levi did when I came to where he works. Now it’s the opposite.’ 

Now it was the opposite… 

You didn’t announce your presence at first, and you would assume that normally Levi was more in tune in with his surroundings, but as he perceived no imminent threat you stood in the entryway unnoticed. 

Steely eyes looked down as Levi picked at his fingernails, one leg shaking up and down restlessly under the table. 

Something in your stomach dropped, but with the most pleasant sensation of free fall. You just hoped you were right. 

“Captain,” you called, coming out more as a croak before you cleared your throat, “It’s all packaged and ready, but are you sure you didn’t need anything else?” 

“You don’t have to call me ‘Captain’” Levi said, leaning back in his chair, “you aren’t a Scout.” 

He didn’t give anything away now-not on his face and not in his even breathing that made whipcord strong shoulders rise and fall steadily. 

But he wasn’t quite as enigmatic as he’d like to think. 

“Levi,” you breathed, rolling it over on your tongue. It felt right to say, even without his title in front, and hearing the sound made the corner of Levi’s lips quirk up again. Just like last time. 

“I have a confession to make,” you began, taking steady strides towards the man whose eyes widened fractionally by those words. 

“Don’t tell me anything that could get you in trouble,” he advised. 

“I don’t think it will. It’s about how I met Commander Pixis, who came to my bakery when his niece was having a birthday party in Wall Rose with her friends. The cake was so last minute I was worried I wouldn’t finish in time-she wanted a five-tiered strawberry cake-but the Commander was so happy I did and paid what I asked for five times over. He was a very generous man, but that was the last time I’ve seen him.” 

Levi’s eyes widened further, and he gripped the side of his chair. You were only a few paces away from him, but he wouldn’t meet your look. 

Softly, you said, “I lied to the guards and I don’t bake for the King, so I know Commander Pixis didn’t actually ask you to get this bread. That’s my confession, so what’s yours?” 

After he didn’t say anything for a beat, you pulled out a chair next to him and asked, “Would you like to eat some lemon poppyseed bread with me?” 

Levi’s chest heaved with a long sigh before he looked you with eyes that weren’t hollow or inexpressive, but pools of mercury with bottomless depths, tiredness, hopefulness, and perhaps you weren’t imagining a bit of wonder. 

“Yeah,” he said. 

You were astounded when Levi licked his fingers clean of the third slice he’d eaten (and a demon inside of you made sure to watch his tongue very closely when he did). He’d even been smiling, which was really more of a flashing smirk, but you bet for him that was the equivalent of full-on grinning. 

“We live in the same walls,” Levi said, a touch more solemn while he looked down at his plate of lemon crumbs, “but you live in a different world than mine. I… wanted some of your world. It seems peaceful.” 

An idea came into your head, and you leaned forward, closer to him as if he pulled you like a magnet, “Why don’t you come back tomorrow? After we’re both done with work, I can show you what this world in Wall Rose is like.” 

One of Levi’s thin, dark eyebrows raised as he considered your words for a few moments. 

With a smirk closest to a grin, he said, “I look forward to seeing the calm in the eye of the storm.” 

Your Wall Rose Recipe Book   
Levi’s Favorite Desserts 2- Lemon Poppyseed Bread   
Yields 1 bread 

Ingredients:   
1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour   
2 tablespoons poppy seeds   
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder  
1/8 teaspoon baking soda   
1/2 teaspoon salt   
1 cup granulated sugar   
Zest of 3 lemons   
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature   
3 large eggs, room temperature   
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract   
1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons sour cream   
1/4 cup milk   
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 

Lemon Glaze:   
1/4 cup granulated sugar   
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 

Instructions:   
Step 1: Start by preheating oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter and flour one 8 by 4-inch loaf pan. 

Step 2: Whisk together flour, poppy seeds, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a mixing bowl until well combined. 

Step 3: In a separate bowl, add lemon and sugar, combining with your fingers until the mixture is wet and pale yellow in color. 

Step 4: In the same bowl as the lemon and sugar, use an electric mixer with a paddle attachment to whip butter into the mixture on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Then, whip eggs in one at a time, and add vanilla extract in with the last egg. 

Step 5: Add milk and sour cream into a microwave safe liquid measuring cup, whisk the two ingredients together, and heat in the microwave for 10 seconds (or until room temperature). 

Step 6: Next, you’re going to add ingredients into the butter/sugar mixture a little at a time. Add 1/3 of flour mixture, mix, 1/2 of milk mixture, mix, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, and mix. Mix each time until ingredients are just combined, repeating this cycle until all ingredients have been incorporated. 

Step 7: Pour batter into loaf pan and bake for 45-55 minutes, tenting with foil at 40 minutes while carefully avoiding to touch the foil to the top of the bread. Insert a toothpick to test bread and see if it is done. 

Step 8: Wait 5 minutes before taking bread out of the loaf pan to cool. Place a large bowl over bread while cooling to seal in moisture. 

Step 9: Combine lemon juice and sugar for glaze in a microwave safe bowl and microwave in 15 second intervals on high heat. Whisk between intervals until sugar has dissolved and the mixture is hot. 

Step 10: Brush lemon glaze on top of bread while it is cooling, allowing bread to absorb the glaze in between brushes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Your author has a confession to make, too: I am absolutely making this story up as I go, but it's super fun to write. 
> 
> I hope it's fun to read, too. Let me know what you thought of chapter 2! Comments mean the world to me.


	3. Brown Sugar Cookies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just you and Levi, advancing the plot together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm craving cookies after writing the recipe at the end.

I Prefer Sugar 

Chapter 3-Brown Sugar Cookies 

Levi looked damn good. 

After you’d rushed home from work the night the night after Levi had visited your shop, bathed, and put on one of your favorite dresses with lacy white sleeves and embroidered red roses, you’d had to backtrack to your bakery while still fiddling with a cameo necklace that didn’t want to clasp- 

But then Levi turned the corner where you were waiting, out of his uniform for the first time since you’d first seen him, and your heart picked up speed. 

The one tiny detail you’d promised yourself you wouldn’t forget, that this was never technically established as a date, washed down the drain with your ability to think clearly. 

The sharpness of his gray button-down with metallic buttons went so perfectly with his eyes, you wondered briefly if the Captain had the vanity in him to plan that. His black pants and shoes made him look sleek and professional, even the way he carried himself held command without the badges to prove it. 

But then Levi blew out a stuttering breath and subconsciously tugged the collar of his shirt when he saw you. An intrusive thought told you it had nothing to do with the August heat. 

“Levi,” you waved with a smile widening on your lips, growing ever wider when the man you’d been thinking about all day cracked a smile back. 

“What do you mean, Hange’s blown up three laboratories? Like,” Y/N asked, making an explosion motion with her hands while Levi watched in amusement, “just like that?”

Levi thanked the Wall gods he didn’t believe in Y/N had wanted to go get drinks. The bitter ale sliding down his throat soothed his nerves, but a nagging part of Levi’s brain told him she could see right through him, anyway. It was… unsettling. And addictive. 

When Y/N talked to him, it felt like she was watching for every movement and spark in his eyes that would reveal something about him his words simply would not. 

He set down his ale to answer. 

“Hange is a special case-she gets so much freedom to do what she wants, because she’s the best at what she does,” Levi said with a shrug, “even if she is crazy.” 

“The same reason you can do whatever you want and don’t have to tell anybody where you’re going?” Y/N, a teasing glint in her face. It made Levi wonder if the alcohol was making his cheeks red. 

“The same reason you don’t report to a boss and own your own business,” he replied, and when he saw Y/N’s cheeks go pink, Levi thought his were definitely rosy. 

You knew you were blushing and took a sip of wine to wet your throat. 

You hadn’t known entirely what to expect of Levi-whether he’d be silent and stoic, or bossy, or crude, but… 

He’d been perfect company. His smiles may not always reach his lips, but you noticed they more often reached his eyes. When he’d walked with you down the lantern-lit cobblestone to your favorite place to drink and eat dinner, his shoulders untensed while you talked. His steps seemed lighter, and he was quicker to make a quip that would inevitably make you laugh. 

He wasn’t distant or cold like people said-he was calm and collected, which made you think he’d been through enough chaos to maintain an equilibrium. 

Except when you would compliment him. Or apparently, when he would compliment you. 

“Let me ask you something I’ve been dying to know,” you began, rerouting the conversation to something that had been on your mind. 

Steely eyes looked hesitant and Levi took another gulp of ale before answering, “Shoot.” 

“Not that I have the time to listen to Wall Rose gossip all day, but I do have a lot of friends here, and I’ve heard the way some people comment that you seem… distant. It makes me sad that they think that, because look at you! You’ve been so kind, and you always have interesting things to say, and you can even be funny when you want-”

“Y/N,” Levi muttered uncomfortably, looking off at something on the floor. 

“Why don’t you ever come into town to contradict that? I’m sure once everyone got to know you, they’d really like you,” you finished with a small huff of air. 

You grew nervous when Levi didn’t answer at first, his hand wrapping around the glass of ale once again to slosh more into his mouth. His adam’s apple bobbed and you couldn’t help but watch. By the time he’d set down his glass, you’d thought you’d offended him for sure. 

He was a Scout, risking his life outside the Walls every other week so humanity could stand a chance, of course he didn’t care what a bunch of townsfolk- 

“Honestly, it worries me someone I used to know before the Scouts would recognize me,” Levi answered finally with a reluctant grimace. 

From before he’d joined the Scouts…? 

You wondered what happened, watching his hands flex nervously. 

“You don’t have to tell me, if it’s hard for you,” you assured, and pools of mercury lifted upwards to glimpse into your eyes while you spoke, “I just wanted you to know that if you ever wanted to go out around town more, you wouldn’t have a hard time making friends here. I don’t know who you knew before joining the Scouts, but even if they caused trouble for you then, I can’t imagine they’d be much of a threat to you now.” 

As you said the last part, Levi’s eyes widened a little with a dawning of understanding unfolding on the surface where you could see. You didn’t know why he needed to be told that, but you were glad you said it. 

Levi cleared his throat, and in what you could only assume to be a diversion from his internal reverie, asked with a teasing grin of his own, “Is that why everyone’s been staring at us? Because they think I’m friendly?” 

You laughed, feeling a thrill when Levi lightened at the sound. 

Without thinking, what slipped out of your mouth was, “They’re just staring at us because we’re so pretty.” 

Your server felt heartily confused as to why the baker woman, Y/N, covered her face with her hands while Captain Ackerman’s face cracked with incredulity before laughter split a wide open grin on his face that seemed so unlike him. 

By the time the black haired man walked (stumbled) back up the cobblestone path with you, shops closed and many lanterns extinguished for the night, you were more tipsy than you thought you’d be from the wine. 

Your companion appeared to be in a similar state. Clearly the brown sugar cookies you’d recommended at the end hadn’t worked to completely sober either of you. The outside was caramelized with sugar and hard, but the insides were warm and very soft. 

“I thought that one was Crescent Avenue,” Levi asked with his head cocked to one side, pointing down a street that most definitely did not lead to your bakery. 

“How do you get around so fast on mobility gear if you don’t know where you’re going?” you giggled, taking Levi’s arm and pointing it towards the next street up. 

“I go by-hic-rooftops, not street names,” Levi said, staring down at the point where your hand wrapped around his forearm, “You can’t see the signs from up there.” 

“How peculiar it must be to see the city from an aerial view so often, you’re more familiar with the rooftops than the shops or the people,” you mused, letting go of the Captain’s arm gently and thinking of how firm it had been under your grip. 

“I know my way around,” he said, waving you off, “just not around the places you visit.” 

‘It worries me someone I used to know before the Scouts would recognize me…’ 

You wondered what Levi could mean and were struck by what he’d said earlier. You felt hyper aware of the man beside you, walking the streets of a town he’d die to protect, but barely knew himself. Every time you’d peel back a layer as delicately as you’d tug apart the petals of a rose to see the center, there was always another layer, because Levi was more than just a hero. 

Levi was a man who’d once been a boy who had worlds of experiences inside him shaped by circumstances you knew nothing about. But you wanted to know. Deep in your heart you wanted to see all of the layers and even make new ones. 

Levi glanced back when he noticed you’d fallen out of pace with him and his soft footfalls came to a halt. 

“Something wrong?” he asked, steely eyes flitting over you as if assessing for damage. 

Could Levi feel the same way about you? Could he feel the same pull? 

“I know you’re busy as a Captain, but would you like to do this again sometime? I… I like spending time with you,” you told him, meeting his eyes with extra determination granted to you by red wine. 

Despite the feeling of panic that warned Levi things of this nature were dangerous, deadly, and this was how he’d seen corpses lined against alleyways with a handful of pills in their hand just to feel after they were ripped apart in ways titans couldn’t fathom, warmth bloomed deep in his chest. 

‘She isn’t like them,’ he told his warring emotions and felt the truth of his words when Y/N looked at him with the same fire she’d worn on her face when she’d barged into his office, ‘She doesn’t live in a world like that.’ 

The streets of Wall Rose looked different to Levi for the first time when he thought, ‘She’s from this world. The one I know nothing about.’ 

“I want to,” he said, feeling the meaning echo back to him. 

He really, really did want to see her again. But the alcohol was working its magic as a truth serum, and he felt it wouldn’t be right to say only that and not the rest. 

“Next time,” he started, clearing his throat and looking at Y/N’s lightened, expectant face in a way he hoped didn’t resemble the way he’d look into the mouth of a titan without his mobility gear, “Next time I want to take you out on a date.” 

Y/N beamed at him, her face radiant through the dimness of nightfall when she smiled back. The heavy stones on his chest fell away one by one with relief when she hadn’t run the other direction. 

In fact, she stepped closer to him as she spoke, “Of course I want to. We haven’t known each other for very long, but you make me happy, Levi.” 

Levi couldn’t help going stock-still when her arms encircled him-hugging him-and his body was unused to the contact. 

When was the last time someone had been brave enough to hug him? 

When was the last time someone said something like that? 

Gulping, his hands shook as he used them to hold the woman gently-half out of fear she couldn’t be real and half out of fear she was all too real and so breakable. 

But for once, he held on and let himself be held, letting her warmth feed something inside of him he hadn’t known was starving. 

Your Wall Rose Recipe Book   
Levi’s Favorite Desserts 3-Brown Sugar Cookies (This one is super easy-like a hangover cookie)  
Yields 24 cookies 

Ingredients:   
3/4 cup brown sugar   
2 1/4 cup all purpose flour   
1 egg (large)   
1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature   
1 teaspoon vanilla extract   
1/2 teaspoon baking powder   
1/2 teaspoon salt   
1/2 cup granulated sugar 

Instructions:   
Step 1- In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar with a paddle attachment on your mixer. Be sure to mix thoroughly and get the sides of the bowl. 

Step 2- Add eggs and vanilla extract, mixing until well combined. 

Step 3- In a separate bowl for dry ingredients, whisk salt, flour, and baking soda until thoroughly mixed. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients until just combined. 

Step 4- Take 1 1/2 tablespoons of cookie dough and roll into balls, roll balls in granulated sugar, and place on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Use a fork to make a crisscross pattern. 

Step 5- Put cookie dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes and preheat over to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Step 6- Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until cookies are done, but not browned. This way they remain soft inside. 

Step 7- Cool for 5 minutes before removing cookies from baking sheet to finish cooling. Eat to your heart’s content.

**Author's Note:**

> Tell me what you thought! I generally only write for Loki, so what did you think of my version of Levi?
> 
> Also 
> 
> Whose excited for season 4? Raise a hand.


End file.
